France’s Marine steps up to the plate of Somalia:
The French navy handed nine suspected pirates to Somali security forces on Thursday four days after capturing them at sea and destroying their boats, local officials said.
French naval staff, who have been the most active in pursuing pirates among various international patrols in the region, handed the nine men over in handcuffs on the dock of Bosasso port in the northern province of Puntland.
“These pirates had two armed speedboats and wanted to hijack ships off Somalia waters. The French burnt the pirates’ boats and then contacted us,” Abdulqadir Muse Yusuf, Puntland’s assistant minister for fisheries, told Reuters.
While waiting in the wings, prospective letters of marque lie waiting to seize the main chance:
Last week, (private security firm Blackwater) announced plans to dispatch the MV MacArthur, a 183-foot vessel with a crew of 14 and a helicopter pad, to the Gulf of Aden to provide escort services for ships in need of security.
“Billions of dollars of goods move through the Gulf of Aden each year,” said Bill Matthews, executive vice president of Blackwater Worldwide, in a press release. “We have been contacted by ship owners who say they need our help in making sure those goods get to their destination safely. The McArthur can help us accomplish that.”
The mercenary outfit–founded by former Navy SEALs in 1997 and heavily involved in U.S. military efforts in Iraq–has tentative plans to build a small fleet of two or three anti-piracy vessels, each able to carry several dozen armed security personnel, according to reports in Lloyds List Maritime. Although the Blackwater vessels will not be armed, the crew will be. Unlike official military personnel, they may have fewer qualms about using those arms against pirates.
The US Navy cut its teeth suppressing the Barbary pirates, while the UK’s Royal Navy spent its the post-Napoleonic years battling the slave trade. In the intervals of war and peace, private men of war filled the spaces that national forces could not, or would not occupy.
It’s passing strange, over time, how little changes but the faces and the names.
So what you’re saying is, even if I signed on the Blackwater dotted line, there’s no twin-mount Bofors 40mm in it for me? Just the stuff I can carry?
Because, you know, guy could get a little excited about a desk job at a Bofors. Beats the FOD detail, one can drink coffee and pretty much sit around admiring the scenic view most of the time.
And when it’s crunch time at work, well, most of the crunch is outbound.
(Sigh!) I start to have these fantasies I must surely need a vacation.
– Max
There was some speculation (in certain circles) of a company doing this very thing back in 2000-2001 when the piracy was really starting to pick up.
I can’t remember if it was Blackwater that was doing it or not. Certainly if anyone has the troops with the expertise to pull this off, they do.
MAX,
Somebody’s got to drop the magazines in the feed for you–can I come along as your “helper?” PS–I’m bringing rum (Barbancourt 5-Star) what’s your pleasure? Oh, and a couple of fresh decks of cards and my grandson’s stolen gameboy. Anything else you can think of?
Does this job involve Keira Knightley?
Anybody want to give me the odds on these 9 pirates going out the backdoor of the prison, sans handcuffs, before the French left through the front door?
The ship won’t be armed? What the …
5″ deck guns and 50 cal. guns at least. That should be enough for lightly armored pirate vessels.
They forgot to mention the gun ship that will be sitting on the helicopter pad on 5 minute alert. And if it doesn’t involve Keira Knightley it should. Just because.
BTW, FWIW, the old WWII guns were called 5″ 38s. Are the current ones a slightly smaller caliber or is it just a nomenclature change? Enlighten a zoomie.
Virgil,
WWII Mk12 guns were 5″ 38s, as you say. The ‘38′ refers to the length of the gun barrel, 38 x the 5″ caliber.
The modern 5″ mount, the Mk45, is a 5″ 54 (also written as 5″ L54 or 5/54). Longer barrel than the WWII mounts, but exact same caliber.
“And when it’s crunch time at work, well, most of the crunch is outbound.”
Max, thanks! That comment and imagery made my day.
You’re right about faces and names changing, but little else. The Romans spent years (and piles of gold) subduing Cilician pirates, who even captured Julius Caesar, IIRC.